Syzygy Plasmonics : Trevor Best
๐ฅ Kaiyo Whisky, Bill Murray, and so much more! โก๏ธ
Hello Fellow Climate Warriors,
Today weโre enjoying a drink with Trevor Best, co-founder and CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics. Syzygy has created a chemical reactor that utilizes light rather than heat, which is leading to some very cool possibilities for maximizing efficiency in the chemical manufacturing world.
Trevorโs previous experience in quality control, project management, and supply chain management at Baker Hughes as well as his long-held passion for lowering carbon emissions has equipped him to pioneer this new type of chemical reactor.
I know youโll love hearing about Trevorโs endeavors in bringing this revolutionary photochemical technology to market, and stay tuned โtill the end for some heavy-hitting book and show recommendations too.
๐ป Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Audacy and Substack๐
Weโre grateful to have you with us, fighting the good fight with a cool beverage in hand.
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๐ย Show Notes Below๐
๐ง New podcast episode:
Trevor Best, co-founder and CEO of Syzygy:
โNot only eliminating emissions but making energy low-cost is very important. So, the fact that we can use low-cost, renewable electricity, the fact that we can build our reactor out of aluminum, the fact that the hyper-efficient lights result in a hyper-efficient reactor - all those are important factors so that we can make products at price parity with whatโs out there today without producing emissions. And ultimately thatโs the goal of the company.โย - Trevor Best explaining why Syzygy Plasmonics works.
Trevor was born and raised in Midland, Texas, and attended Texas Tech, where he and his co-founder, Suman Khatiwada, would meet with professors after hours about photocatalysts and reactors. He then traveled to China to teach English and headed back to work for Baker Hughes in Oklahoma.
Trevor landed back in Midland (where oil was discovered in 1923) and got to work on a chemical reactor that uses a photocatalyst built using nanotechnology that was invented at Rice University.
His startup is lowering cost and carbon emissions simultaneously, which puts him on the forefront of solving a major part of the energy crisis.
Find Trevor on LinkedIn
And on Twitter: @SyzygyPlasmonic
View Syzygyโs Carbon Model here:
๐ฅ What we drank during the episode: Kaiyo โThe Kuriโ Whiskey
Enjoy the show!
๐ป Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Audacy and Substack๐
Interested in sponsoring?
Please reach out to m@climatetechcocktails.com
Companies/Startups mentioned during the show:
๐Kaiyo Whisky
๐LinkedIn
๐Twelve
๐The Whiskey in Los Angeles
๐Baker Hughes
๐CentriLifts in Claremore, Oklahoma
๐Energy Vault
๐Nature Magazine
๐Science Magazine
๐Bucha Bio
๐Mori
๐IncentiFind
๐Greentown Labs
๐Criterion Energy
People/places/things mentioned during the show:
๐ง Bill Murray
๐ง Houston Astros
๐ง E-Capitol Summit CleanTech Prize
๐ง Permian Basin
๐ง Etasha Cave
๐ง Beijing, China
๐ง Qingdao, China
๐ง Beer in a Bag
๐ง Appendicitis
๐ง Suman Khatiwada
๐ง MIT
๐ง Stanford
๐ง Rice University
๐ง Gravity Battery
๐ง Rice Universityโs Hydrogen Catalyst
๐ง Ultra High-Efficiency LED Lights
๐ง Refineries, Combustion and Smoke Stacks
๐ง Dry reforming to make Syngas
๐ง CCUS
๐ง Hydrogen as a Necessary Part of Achieving Zero Emissions
๐ง Zimery Henshaw
๐ง Adam Behrens
๐ง Natalie Goodman
๐ง Emily Reichert
๐ง Manโs Search for Meaning
๐ง Siddhartha
๐ง Steve Jobs
๐ง We are Bob Books
๐ง Ryan Bethencourt
๐ง Mandalorian
๐ง The Expanse
๐ง Raised by Wolves
-TIMESTAMPS-
[0:00] Intro
[1:15] Drink of the Show
[5:03] How We Connected
[6:10] An Origin Story in Midland, Texas
[17:28] Working in the Gulf of Mexico and Trying Startup Ideas
[22:58] Assessing Tech Ideas
[27:22] A Fun Science Lesson
[37:40] The Environmental Importance of Syzygyโs Tech
[46:42] Hydrogen as a Substantial Fuel Source?
[53:58] The Carbon Model
[54:50] Whatโs Next for Syzygy
[57:58] 3 Start-ups
[59:09] Moji Karimi, Cemvita Factory
[61:00] ย Natalie and Ana Dai, Greentown Labs
[62:12] 3 Books
[67:00] Final Thoughts and Conclusion



